The Tigris and Euphrates. Rivers of the Fertile Crescent

35 Pages·2010·6.601 MB·English

by  Gary G. Miller

By Gary Miller
Crabtree Publishing Company
www.crabtreebooks.com
Author: Gary Miller Photo Credits:
Editor: Barbara Bakowski Cover: Goster Glase/Superstock/Photolibrary
Designer: Tammy West, Westgraphix LLC 4, 12: © Nik Wheeler/CORBIS
Photo Researcher: Edward A. Thomas 6, 18: (bottom) Getty Images
Map Illustrator: Stefan Chabluk 7: AFP/Getty Images
Indexer: Nila Glikin 8: © Images & Stories/Alamy
Project Coordinator: Kathy Middleton 10: © Trip/Alamy
Crabtree Editor: Adrianna Morganelli 13, 17: iStockphoto
Proofreader: Reagan Miller 14: © North Wind/North Wind Picture Archives-all
Production Coordinator: Kenneth Wright rights reserved
Prepress Technician: Kenneth Wright 18: (top) Suleiman I (1494-1566) called the“Magnificent”
(gouache on paper) by Italian school (16thcentury)/
Series Consultant: Michael E. Ritter, Ph.D., Professor Bibliotheque Nationale,Paris,France/Archives Charmet/
of Geography, University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point The Bridgeman Art Library
19: Popperfoto/Getty Images
Developed for Crabtree Publishing Company by RJF 20: © Chad McDermott/Alamy
Publishing LLC (www.RJFpublishing.com) 21: ATEF HASSAN/Reuters/Landov
23, 24: AP Images
Cover: Small boats on the water near Al Qurnah, Iraq, 25: Michele Burgess/Superstock/Photolibrary
where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet to form the 27: Reuters/Landov
Shatt al Arab.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Gary, 1961- Miller, Gary, 1961-
The Tigris and Euphrates : rivers of the fertile crescent / Gary G. The Tigris and Euphrates : rivers of the fertile crescent / by Gary
Miller. Miller.
p. cm. -- (Rivers around the world)
(Rivers around the world) Includes index.
Includes index. ISBN 978-0-7787-7471-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-7787-7448-8
ISBN 978-0-7787-7448-8 (bound).--ISBN 978-0-7787-7471-6 (pbk.) (reinforced library binding : alk. paper)
1. Tigris River--Juvenile literature. 2. Tigris River Valley--Juvenile
1. Tigris River--Juvenile literature. 2. Tigris River Valley--Juvenile literature. 3. Euphrates River--Juvenile literature. 4. Euphrates
literature. 3. Euphrates River--Juvenile literature. 4. Euphrates River River Valley--Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series.
Valley--Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series: Rivers around the
world DS49.7.M55 2009
956.7--dc22
DS49.7.M54 2010 j956.7 C2009-906244-5
2009042411
Crabtree Publishing Company Printed in the U.S.A./122009/BG20091103
www.crabtreebooks.com 1-800-387-7650
Copyright © 2010 CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
duced, stored in a retrieval system or be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Crabtree Publishing Company.
Published in Canada Published in the United States Published in the United Published in Australia
Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing Kingdom Crabtree Publishing
616 Welland Ave. PMB 59051 Crabtree Publishing 386 Mt. Alexander Rd.
St. Catharines, ON 350 Fifth Avenue, 59thFloor Maritime House Ascot Vale (Melbourne)
L2M 5V6 New York, New York 10118 Basin Road North, Hove VIC 3032
BN41 1WR
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Between the Rivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 2: From the Mountains to the Gulf. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 3: Life Along the Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 4: Travel and Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 5: An Uncertain Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Comparing the World’s Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Find Out More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Words that are defined in the glossary are in bold type
the first time they appear in the text.
CHAPTER 1
Between the Rivers
A
t nine o’clock in the morning, the temperature is already a scorching
100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Desert stretches for miles
around, yet just ahead is a lush field of crops. How is this possible?
You are in the Tigris-Euphrates river basin, one of the
most unusual environments on Earth.
4
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers begin in the
mountains of Turkey and follow separate
courses until they join to become the Shatt
al Arab near the Persian Gulf.
Follow the Flow
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers
flow from rugged mountains in
Turkey, where rain and melting
snow feed them. The Tigris
flows about 1,180 miles (1,900
kilometers) before joining the
Euphrates River in Iraq. The
Euphrates flows 1,740 miles
(2,800 km) before it combines
with the Tigris to form the Shatt
al Arab, which empties into the
Persian Gulf.
The Tigris-Euphrates drainage
basin, or the area of land that is
drained by the rivers, covers about FAST FACT
475,865 square miles (765,830 square The Sumerian name
km). Much of the land through which for the Tigris River
the rivers flow is desert. Water from was Idigna, or
“fast water.”
the rivers makes it possible for people
to live in this hot, arid environment.
The Land of Mesopotamia
People have lived in the Tigris and
Euphrates basin since about 10,000
BC.
The first settlers lived in a place
LEFT: The Kara Su River in northeastern
Turkey is a source of the Euphrates River.
5
THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
The Tigris River flows through
Baghdad, thecapital of Iraq.
people. Most
important was
water, which people
used for drinking
and crop irrigation.
The rivers flooded
regularly, depositing
nutrient-rich silt
on the land, which
known as Mesopotamia. The name helped crops grow well. People caught
Mesopotamia comes from Greek words fish in the rivers and hunted birds
meaning “land between the rivers.” and other animals that lived along
The land near the Tigris and Euphrates the shores. Early settlers also used
was home to a number of rich cultures, the rivers as an important route for
including the ancient kingdoms of travel and trade.
Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad, and Assyria. Today, millions of people live in
It was also part of the Fertile the Tigris and Euphrates basin. Many
Crescent, a landscape of rivers live in large cities that have developed
and rich soil that extended from the along the rivers, such as Baghdad, in
eastern shore of the Mediterranean Iraq. Outside the cities, farmers grow
Sea to the Persian Gulf. crops, including sugar beets, olives,
and grains. Herders raise goats, cattle,
An Important Resource and other livestock. Water from the
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers Tigris and Euphrates rivers remains
provided vital resources for early a critical resource.
N O T A B L E Q U O T E
“Marduk created…and put in place Tigris and
Euphrates rivers. He pronounced their names
with favor.”
—from the Babylonian creation myth “Marduk the Creator”
6
BETWEEN THE RIVERS
This photograph shows people
attending the opening of a new
irrigation canal on the Tigris
River that will carry water
for agriculture.
Dams also serve
another important
function: they use
the force of moving
water to generate
hydroelectricity.
Sharing the
Rivers
Putting Water to Work
The need for water in the region of
To bring water to crops, people along
the Tigris and Euphrates has created
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have
conflicts. Since the 1960s, Turkey,
built complex irrigation systems.
Syria, and Iraq have worked to share
Dams capture water that flows down
the river waters in ways that are fair
the rivers. Canals and pumps deliver
to people in all the countries located
the water to places where it is needed.
within the basin. The nations have
often disagreed about how the water
That’s Electric!
should be shared, however.
How does a river help create As the population along the Tigris
electrical power? A dam captures
and Euphrates rivers has increased,
water flowing down a river. The
the demand for water has grown, too.
water is held behind the dam,
Another problem is that a change in
forming a reservoir, or an artificial
weather patterns may be bringing
lake. When the water is released
less rain and snow to the river basin.
through a channel, the moving
water spins the blades of a giant Today, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
turbine. The turbine is connected are pushed to their limits, yet people
to a generator, which makes across the region are hopeful that the
electricity as it turns.
rivers will continue to provide the
water they need.
7
CHAPTER 2
From the Mountains to the Gulf
T
he Tigris and Euphrates rivers start within 50 miles (80 km) of each other,
high in the mountains of Turkey. As they flow along separate courses until
they meet near the Persian Gulf, the rivers pass through the region that was
a birthplace of civilization thousands of years ago—Mesopotamia.
88